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Forty years on, Bob Marley's rich legacy thrives
It's been four decades since Bob Marley's death, a period longer than the reggae icon's brief but potent life that skin cancer ended when he was 36.
Yet Marley lives on as a voice of the dispossessed, the palpable vibrancy, spirit of protest and moral zeal of his songs including "One Love," "Redemption Song" and "I Shot The Sheriff" enduring in a way few bodies of popular music have ever done.
His rich anthems of peace and struggle, hope and discontent, still reverberate globally and especially in his native Jamaica, a small nation whose rich culture its most famous son popularized on an international stage.
"It is said the brightest stars sometimes don't burn as long and, in many ways, Bob Marley was our brightest star; he accomplished a lot in a short period of time," said Judy Mowatt, an original member of the influential I-Threes trio whose vocals backed Marley.
"Looking back now, I believe in many ways, he was before his time," Mowatt told AFP.
"His words have been prophetic -- he was a man who believed everything he sung, it wasn't just lyrics and music."
'Money can't buy life'
Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma in 1977, which was first discovered underneath a toenail when he suffered a foot injury playing football.
He opted against doctors' recommendations that he amputate his toe, a procedure that would have violated his staunch Rastafarian faith.
While in New York in 1980 to perform two shows at Madison Square Garden, Marley collapsed during a Central Park jog. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found the cancer had crept into his brain, lungs and liver.
Marley performed what would be his final show in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980. Not long after, he cut his tour short and underwent months of ultimately unsuccessful alternative cancer treatment in Germany.
It's been four decades since Bob Marley's death, a period longer than the reggae icon's brief but potent life that skin cancer ended when he was 36.
Yet Marley lives on as a voice of the dispossessed, the palpable vibrancy, spirit of protest and moral zeal of his songs including "One Love," "Redemption Song" and "I Shot The Sheriff" enduring in a way few bodies of popular music have ever done.
His rich anthems of peace and struggle, hope and discontent, still reverberate globally and especially in his native Jamaica, a small nation whose rich culture its most famous son popularized on an international stage.
"It is said the brightest stars sometimes don't burn as long and, in many ways, Bob Marley was our brightest star; he accomplished a lot in a short period of time," said Judy Mowatt, an original member of the influential I-Threes trio whose vocals backed Marley.
"Looking back now, I believe in many ways, he was before his time," Mowatt told AFP.
"His words have been prophetic -- he was a man who believed everything he sung, it wasn't just lyrics and music."
'Money can't buy life'
Marley was diagnosed with acral lentiginous melanoma in 1977, which was first discovered underneath a toenail when he suffered a foot injury playing football.
He opted against doctors' recommendations that he amputate his toe, a procedure that would have violated his staunch Rastafarian faith.
While in New York in 1980 to perform two shows at Madison Square Garden, Marley collapsed during a Central Park jog. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors found the cancer had crept into his brain, lungs and liver.
Marley performed what would be his final show in Pittsburgh on September 23, 1980. Not long after, he cut his tour short and underwent months of ultimately unsuccessful alternative cancer treatment in Germany.